Researchers at the Laboratory for Laser Energetics have, for the first time, experimentally demonstrated a method called dynamic shell formation, which may help achieve the goal of creating a fusion power plant.

The researchers, including Igor Igumenshchev, a senior scientist at LLE, and Valeri Goncharov, a distinguished scientist and theory division director at LLE and an assistant professor (research) in the Department of Mechanical Engineering, discuss their findings in a paper published in Physical Review Letters.

The editors of the journal recently highlighted the paper as an Editors’ Suggestion, a distinction reflecting exceptional subject matter, merit, and clarity of writing.

“This experiment has demonstrated feasibility of an innovative target concept suitable for affordable, mass production for inertial fusion energy,” Igumenshchev says.

Learn more about this “ideal energy source.”

(Getty Images)

Economists have documented the disproportionate, negative effect of work requirements on homeless recipients of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistant Program, or SNAP.

Work requirements have been part of the program since the 1990s. But in the final version of the Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2023, which was signed into law on June 3, homeless recipients of SNAP benefits, commonly known as food stamps, would be exempt.

That was good news to Elena Prager, an assistant professor of economics at Rochester’s Simon Business School. Prager was part of a team of economists whose research shows that SNAP work requirements have a disproportionate, adverse effect on homeless recipients. Their study was published in American Economic Journal: Economic Policy.

“I don’t know for sure whether our paper caused [the exemption],” Prager says, “but as far as I know, we were the first research team to document that work requirements disproportionately impact homeless people. And it’s pretty plausible that people working in Congress who have been reading our work and reaching out to us made that happen.”

SNAP work requirements have multiple limitations.

Scholars affiliated with the Warner School are telling the story of teaching and learning with a curriculum that students had a role in developing and implementing.

The course in question is a hip-hop class that Joanne Larson, the Michael W. Scandling professor of education at the Warner School, taught through the University’s partnership with East High School.

Larson coauthored the book, Doing and Being Hip-Hop in School: Best.Class.Ever, with Warner School postdoctoral fellow Eleni Duret ’22W (PhD), and former East Upper School teacher Grant Atkins.

As an ethnographer, Larson studies the language literacy power knowledge in urban communities and utilizes this research to better the East High School community.

“We’ve succeeded in transforming the culture of the school,” says Larson in a video.

Apply by Monday, July 24, 5 p.m.

Research teams with at least one Rochester faculty member can get up to $10,000 to support early-phase research projects that improve health equity and incorporate effective translation, distribution, and/or use of evidence-based interventions and policies in real-world settings. The Equity-Focused Dissemination and Implementation (EQ-DI) Pipeline-to-Pilot Award is available through Rochester’s Clinical and Translational Science Institute. Find out more.

Friday, June 28, 9 a.m.–5 p.m.
Feldman Ballroom, Frederick Douglass Commons

The 2023 Summer Research Symposium hosted by the David T. Kearns Center celebrates the accomplishments of more than 60 research scholars—from Rochester as well as from other institutions across the country—who participated in a ten-week summer research program at the University. The annual symposium gives scholars the opportunity to showcase their research and prepare for professional conference presentations. Check out the schedule.

Friday, July 28, 2023 1–4 p.m.
School of Medicine and Dentistry, Northeastern Room Combined 1-9525/35

Attendees will learn principles for designing effective scientific talks, with particular emphasis on clear visual communication. The content, presented by Alan Grossfield, associate professor of biochemistry and biophysics, is aimed primarily at students, but postdocs, fellows, techs, faculty, and staff members are also welcome. All attendees should be prepared to share a set of slides from a scientific talk, since a portion of the workshop will involve small-group discussion of others’ presentations. Space is limited, so please reserve your spot.

Monday, July 31, 3–4 p.m. EDT
Virtual

BioRender software helps researchers create and share professional life science figures in minutes through a customizable library of icons and templates. Users can choose from thousands of scientifically accurate, high-resolution icons and combine them to create new figures for publications, posters, and presentations. BioRender is available to Rochester faculty, staff and students at a discounted price. Learn more by registering for the information session presented by the University of Rochester Libraries, University IT, and AS&E Graduate Education and Postdoctoral Affairs.